Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Hillary Clinton will be appearing next year at a fundraiser for Marjorie Margolies' congressional campaign in the Pennsylvania suburbs, according to Ken Smukler, who serves as a communications consultant for Margolies.

"Hillary said from the beginning that she was not going to be political this year except for McAuliffe and family. She is scheduled to come in six months before the election. She is coming in just when we need her," said Smukler, who also serves as spokesman for the local Democratic party. "The Clintons are doing this for themselves as much as for Marjorie. They can't have a family member lose a race for Congress six months before she is gearing up for a presidential election."

Leach said he wasn't concerned by Margolies' support from the Clinton camp.

"We have outpaced all of our opponents in fundraising and outreach since I got into the race," he told HuffPost. "We are following a very carefully crafted campaign plan. That plan does not depend on who does and does not support or attend fund-raisers for any of our opponents. I wish them all well, but I have a long history of winning elections, and I and my team are extremely confident our campaign will prevail on May 20th. "

The campaign of physician Val Arkoosh, another candidate for the congressional seat, disputed Leach's figures, and said Arkoosh currently led in fundraising. "We are the leading fundraiser in this race among the slate of candidates as of the end of the 3rd quarter with 588k cash-on-hand," said communications director Bryan Lesswing. "We are leading state Sen. Leach by over 210k, and Marjorie Margolies by 398k."

Smukler made his comments about Margolies at a fundraiser for the Dorys Erving Fit Youth (DEFY) Foundation at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Philadelphia on Friday night. Dorys is the wife of former NBA legend and Philadelphia favorite son Julius "Dr. J" Erving. Dr. J is currently on a book tour promoting his memoir, "Dr J: The Autobiography."

The foundation will provide a platform for solutions to childhood obesity in Philadelphia. According to the CDC, 25 percent of school age children in Philadelphia are suffering from obesity. The huge cake rolled out for desert illustrates the difficulty of tackling obesity.

The gala attracted many celebrities, such as former Laker star Kareem Abdul Jabbar and R & B singer Jeffrey Osborne, and local politicians such as Congressman Bob Brady. Brady lamented about the ubiquity of fast food chains in Philadelphia.

Osborne's performance was the highlight of the night.

State Senator Anthony Williams, who is running for mayor of Philadelphia in 2015, and his wife Shari shared a romantic to "On The Wings of Love."

Even Dorys and Julius Erving couldn't resist the music.

At the same event, Jabbar voiced his frustration at the racism of Obama's critics.

"Obama is the President of the United States. He should be treated with respect."Many of the president's critics, especially the birthers, are racist. This nonsense that he was born in Kenya, which we all know is not true, is pure racism," Jabbar said.

Billionaire Thomas H. Lee felt invincible when he had an affair with Philadelphia stockbroker Laura Goldman in 1993. Eleven months into their relationship, Thomas skipped a dinner date with Laura, which sent her into an unwavering fit of rage and vengeance.After weeks of receiving threats and monetary demands, Lee agreed to pay $200,000 to Laura plus an additional $15,000 for her psychiatric care after she signed an affidavit that he had not raped her. Her threats continued, however, until she was indicted for harassment. To avoid prosecution, Laura fled to Israel, where she demanded millions of dollars for mental health treatment. The broker’s irrational terms evidently held zero merit for the Israelis. They were more than willing to extradite her to the US and into welcoming federal arms.Fifteen years after Laura had accused Lee of rape, she was sentenced to five years of high-restrictive probation after pleading guilty to attempted extortion. Fortunately for Lee, Laura’s sentence prohibited her from contacting him, his family, and his business associates. She was also not allowed to visit New York, Massachusetts, or Florida.